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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday that he had ordered his Foreign Ministry to declare ten ambassadors “persona non grata,” including those from France, Germany and the United States. On Monday, diplomats had called for the immediate release of opposition Osman Kavala, whom Ankara accuses of participating in the failed 2016 coup.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday October 23 that the ambassadors of ten countries, including France, Germany and the United States, who have called for the release of the opposition Osman Kavala, will be declared “persona non grata.”
“I ordered our Minister of Foreign Affairs to arrange as soon as possible the declaration of these ten ambassadors as persona non grata,” said the head of state during a trip to central Turkey, without giving a specific date of when the measure will be taken.
An unusual decision in international relations. The fact of declaring diplomats “persona non grata” opens the way for their expulsion or dismissal by their own country.
“From morning to night (diplomats) repeat: Kavala, Kavala … But whoever they are talking about, Kavala, is Soros’ agent in Turkey,” the president said during a public meeting, referring to the American billionaire of origin. Hungarian George Soros, whom Turkey accuses of having financed the Gezi revolt in 2013.
These ambassadors “must know and understand Turkey,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, accusing them of “indecency.” “They will have to leave the country if they don’t know about it,” he added.
Kavala, detained without conviction since late 2017
In a statement released Monday evening, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States called for a “fair and speedy settlement of the case” Osman Kavala, Turkish businessman and patron which has become an obsession for Ankara and has been imprisoned for four years without trial. The following day, the representatives of these countries were summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Turkish authorities considered that their approach was “unacceptable”.
The Turkish head of state threatened Thursday to expel these ambassadors, but without taking concrete measures in that regard. On the same day, he said that the ambassadors calling for the businessman’s release will not ask for “bandits, hitmen and terrorists” in their own country.
In a written statement, Osman Kavala ruled on Friday that it “would not make sense” for him to attend his future trial due to the inability to obtain due process following recent statements by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The first countries to respond were Sweden and Norway, who said they had not received any official notification about their respective ambassadors.
“Our ambassador did nothing to justify the deportation,” Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Trude Måseide was quoted as saying by the NTB news agency. He added that his country “will continue to urge Turkey to adhere to democratic standards and the rule of law to which the country is committed under the European Convention on Human Rights.”
Case continues amid EU threats to sanction Ankara
Osman Kavala, 64, an opponent and prominent civil society figure, has been accused since 2013 by President Erdogan’s government of attempting to destabilize Turkey and is particularly targeted for supporting the 2013 anti-government protests known as the Gezi movement.
He was then accused of having sought to “overthrow the government” during the 2016 coup attempt. In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the businessman’s arrest was not based on any evidence and was political in nature, so he called for his immediate release, a decision that Turkey ignored.
Osman Kavala will remain in prison until at least November 26, the date of the next court hearing, an Istanbul court decided in early October, despite European threats of sanctions against Ankara.
The Council of Europe recently threatened Turkey with sanctions, which could be adopted at its next session (November 30-December 2) if the opponent is not released by then.
With AFP and Reuters
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